The Daily: Wednesday July 30th, 2025

Read Luke 6:43-45 (NRSV, The Message)

You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.          Luke 6:43-45 (The Message)

"A 1996 study at Stanford University used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to study the effects of complaining on people’s brains. Researchers found that just thirty minutes of complaining, or even just listening to someone else complain, begins to shrink the hippocampus region of the brain, leading to decreased mental function, worsened memory, and a lower ability to learn."
Bowen, Will. A Complaint Free World, Revised and Updated: Stop Complaining, Start Living (p. 63). (Function). 

You Are Not an Apple Tree!

This passage in Jesus' "sermon on the plain" is a powerful reminder that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Our words reflect the state of our heart.

However, we are different han other flora and fauna. An oak tree has no choice but to produce an acorn. An acorn has no choice, if it falls into the right environment, other than to grow into an oak tree. A bear, if unimpeded, has no choice but to hibernate in the winter. The miracle of humanity (described by Brian Swimme as the cosmos becoming conscious of itself) is, that for us, there is a bit more of a two-way street. Yes our hearts produce our words, but our words can form our hearts and souls. By intentionally changing how we speak, no easy task to be sure, we can join the Divine Spirit in transforming our hearts and minds. As our hearts and minds are transformed, they produce the good fruit of true, compassionate, encouraging words!

Reflection Question
How might you practice changing your words, even if you're heart isn't quite there yet?

Prayer
God, you are ever-willing to work with us to change our hearts and our world. May we be ever-more-willing to partner with you in the work of transformation.